


Depths of Hell's Fires

by Wolvenlights



Series: Depths of Life Chronicles [1]
Category: Hellboy (Comics), Hellboy (Movies), Hellboy - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Paranormal Investigators, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-05-12 13:13:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5667334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolvenlights/pseuds/Wolvenlights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years after the fight for the Golden Army and quitting the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy can't imagine his life getting any better than it is. He has the love of his life at his side, two wonderful children, a handful of cats, and a small home in the countryside. The problem is, Evil never takes a break. And with Red and the others not there to protect the world, someone has to step in.<br/>Now Red has to track down a kid who's causing trouble in the streets and train 'em to do the job right. Will he succeed in his quest so he can go back to his peaceful life? Or will he find that kicking some ass wasn't so bad after all?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Peace Disrupted

**5 years after the fight for The Golden Army**

Liz heard a sharp squeal ring out from the other side of the bedroom door. Her heart started to race as she listened carefully for any sobbing or pain filled cries to follow. Nothing but silence. Now she was worried. One silent child was bad enough, but to have _two_ silent children? She peeked an eye open as though it would help her to hear better. A roar filled the air outside and was accompanied by more squeals of surprise and peals of laughter. A sleepy smile crept onto Liz's face as she closed her eyes again, hearing the scampering of the twins trying to escape their father in whatever spontaneous game they were playing. 

When Red offered to keep the kids out of her hair long enough for an afternoon nap, it apparently didn't include them being very quiet for long. She peeked at the alarm clock by the bedside reluctantly. Three o'clock. Okay, so she had to give him a little more credit than that. A two hour nap of real sleep was better than she expected from their noisy household. Liz listened for a few moments more of their small family playing on the other side of the door, before deciding that she might as well get up. One of their five cats-she wouldn't allow HB to have anymore than that-purred in acknowledgement of her slight movements, but made no effort to get up. Liz, however, stretched and slipped off the bed silently, sneaking over to the door. That was, until she heard a thunderous boom and Red protesting rather loudly.

Liz opened the door and had to fight back a laugh at the scene before her. There was her husband, both feet in the air and the coffee table overturned with a sheet haphazardly thrown over top of him and their two, four year old children clamoring onto him. 

"No! Hey wait! Oh c'mon guys!" Red fought to get the sheet off so he could see his two pint sized opponents. The twins laughed and worked together to tickle and prod their father in retaliation. 

"Give up, Pops?" Their son, Trevor, chimed out. 

"Never!" Red shouted in triumph, pulling the sheet off his head finally. The corner of which, caught on the rough edge of his filed horns and tore with a loud rip. "Aw...crap."

"Oooooo! Pop's in troublllleeee!" Trevor drawled out, picking at the torn sheet in his father's stone hand. 

"Daddy! You're not allowed to say that word!" The tiny girl scowled, shoving her hands onto her hips in an imitation of her mother. 

"Nooo. _You're_ not allowed to say that word...and pops won't get into trouble so long as you don't tell mommy!" Red hissed out, quietly evaluating the torn cloth. His tail swished back and forth behind him in a faint panic of what would be said if his wife found out.

"Too late for that." The twins giggled watching their father visibly flinch at being caught red handed. Liz smiled and moved to join the trio on the floor. If Hellboy was blushing from embarrassment, it went unnoticed and hidden in his dark crimson color. "It doesn't look that bad...I'll let you slide this time."

"Daddy isn't in trouble?" 

"No, Zoey. Daddy isn't in trouble." Liz grinned, brushing back the little girl's wild black hair out of her tiny face. "He _is_ in trouble for using a bad word though." 

"What?!" 

"Told you! Now you have to put a coin in the 'potty mouth' jar! " Zoey cheered, bouncing in a very disgruntled half-demon's lap. Ever since Liz had adopted the jar method of curbing everyone's bad habits, Zoey had made it her job to uphold the rules. Especially if it meant ice cream or a movie at the end of the month. The twins had adopted many of their mother's features. Their skin was darker than her doll white color, tinged red as though they were kissed by the sun. Jet black raven hair covered their heads. The only visible connections the twins had to their father, were the tiny nubs where their horns were coming in, hidden in their bangs, and their dark red tails. 

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Come on you two. Let your o'man up." Red chuckled, shaking his head. Liz smirked and kissed his cheek as the twins scrambled off of him, giving him a chance to actually get untangled from the sheet and overturned table.

"Thanks for watching them, HB." Liz noted quietly, helping her husband to his feet. 

"Anything for you, Babe. Did you get any sleep? The kids and I were pretty loud." Red rubbed the back of his head with his stone hand, sheepishly. 

"Surprisingly. Cream Puff, kept me company in your absence." 

"Well I'm glad you weren't alone." He teased, bending down to rub his nose against hers. 

Their semi-quiet moment of nostalgia was interrupted by a loud knocking on their door. Red shared a look with his wife before making his way over towards the door. 

"You expecting anyone, babe?" He asked scooping up Trevor into his arms as the kids ran past him. The boy protested with a loud shrill laugh while being thrown over his father's shoulder. 

"No...but Abe did say that he was going to try and stop by sometime this week." Liz answered, righting the small table again, silently thanking God that it wasn't damaged during their horse play. Red managed to make a grunt of acknowledgement, before opening the door without a second thought. Afterall, who would be foolish enough to knock on the door of a half demon that had the key to dooms day for a hand and a pyrokinetic for a wife? The unfortunate man on the other side was an all too familiar face. 

"Myers?!" Hellboy's golden eyes narrowed at the smaller man. 

"Hey Red. I hope it's okay for me to drop by like this." John Myers gave a small wave and a hesitant smile. His transfer to Antarctica wasn't a mere coincidence. It was a punishment for having tried to steel Hellboy's girl away after they had returned from Russia. A mistake that he paid for by freezing his ass off for the last seven years. "I got your new address from the Bureau. I hope that was alright-" 

"No."

"B-but I came all this way-"

"Cut the crap Myers. We _both_ know that if _you're_ here, then it has something to do with the Bureau and I want nothing to do with them anymore." Red all but growled out, shifting his son's weight on his shoulder. 

John gave a sigh and hung his head. Yup. The big fella was still pretty mad at him for what he did all those years ago. "Yeah...yeah I know..."

"So why don't you just save yourself some time and stop wasting mine and get the hell off my doorstep?" Red raised one thick eyebrow at him and waited for whatever poor excuse his so called friend had to provide.

"Because if I don't at least try and talk to you about the director's proposal, they're gunna ship me back to that _Iceburg_ they call a _continent_." Myers straightened himself to be a little more presentable and a more determined look on his face. "This is the first time I've been back in a warmer climate in seven years, Hellboy. I'd like to _stay here_."

Well that had Red blinking in surprise. A few months, a year at most. But even he wouldn't have left someone in Antarctica for that long! He wasn't that heartless. Even if he wasn't maybe seven years was too long a time to hold throwing pick up lines at your best girl as a grudge. Red gave a sigh after a long moment. What was the harm in just listening to a proposal. It wasn't like he ever fully agreed to do what ever the Bureau instructed.

"Alright, fine. Get your as- _rear_ in here." Red grumbled, stepping out of the way enough so that Myers could come inside without getting hit by the pair of small feet still frantically kicking and trying to get away. "But we're not doing any business until _after_ the kids are asleep. 

"Kids?!" Myers couldn't help but ask as Red shifted his son so that he could sit more comfortably on his stone arm and see the new visitor. The agent blinked, suddenly acknowledging that first of all, Red hadn't beaten the living day lights out of him for showing up. And two, Hellboy evidently had children in the time that he was gone. "Holy crap. Who is this?" 

"This would be Trevor-" 

"Oooooo! Mommy! He said a bad word!" Zoey dutifully reported rather loudly and pointing at the new comer. Myers blinked and turned a decent shade of red at the reprimand the little girl gave. 

"-and that would be the informant, Zoey." Red rolled his eyes and set his son down on the ground again. 

"Cut the guy some slack! He hasn't been here long enough to know the house rules, yet." Liz pipped in, coming over and pulling Myers into a light hug. "Good to see you again John. The Bureau finally let you out of the ice box?" 

"Finally." The agent admitted feeling somewhat awkward about the hug. "I'll tell you what, it's a lot warmer here than it is there." 

Red smirked closing the door finally. "Hey kids, why don't you go watch some cartoons for a bit, huh? Give us big people a chance to catch up?" 

At the mention of cartoons, the twins gasped and took off running for the TV. With a quick reprimand from Liz to not run through the house, the trio made their way deeper into the house towards the kitchen table for beer and telling stories of all that had happened since Myers' transfer. The fight for the Golden Army, the whole team quitting the Bureau, the arrival of the twins, and the eventual marriage between Liz and Red. Time seem to fly by despite the looming cloud that hung over their conversation. John had been all to grateful to wait until later to bring up the unfortunate reason for his arrival. That gratefulness turned into regret when the children had been fed, scrubbed, and sent off to bed. 

"Red, I have to admit..." Myers started after a pause, watching as his friend took up his seat at the table again. "I didn't know the Professor for very long but, I have no doubt that he'd be really proud of you right now."

Red smirked softly at the thought of his adopted father. The pain from loosing the Professor had faded over time but the memories remained. The idea that he would be proud of Red becoming a responsible father warmed his heart. It was something he had to agree with Myers on and one that he did with a small nod. 

"I should hope so."Liz chuckled softly, coming in to sit on Red's lap with a smile. Her husband just grinned and wrapped his stone hand around her waist, holding her comfortably to him. "Alright Johnny boy. You know how much I hate waiting for crap. What's this... _proposal_ You were supposed to talk to me about?" Red turned his attention to the man sitting across from him. 

"Right," Myers sighed heavily and rubbed at the back of his neck. "It's a job, of course so-Now hear me out first before you bulk and say no!" 

It took a moment of grumbling and Liz smacking the culprit before the agent continued. "The Bureau knows that you and Liz have...retired is the term they used. And with that, paranormal activity has gone through the roof. Normal agents can't handle this shit and they basically need a replacement for you two." 

"Just us two?" Red raised a brow. "What about Abe and Johann? They were good agents as well, you know." 

"Those two are back working for the Bureau...didn't you know?" Myers gave a questioning look to the couple before him. Their faces were almost mirrored with the surprising news. 

"Maybe they didn't tell us because they didn't want us to worry about them." Liz suggested after a moment. 

"Yeah...maybe." Red grumbled, rubbing his free hand over his face. "Come on Myers. I know there's more too this. I'm guessing those two are not enough man power to handle it?"

"Sadly no. They're good, yeah. But neither of them has the experience like you guys do." 

"That's bull crap! Those two went through a hell of a lot. Especially Abe!" Red growled out, struggling to keep his voice down and not wake the twins. 

"Yeah I know. I get it. But neither of them pack the fire power like _you two_ do...and some of the stuff the Bureau has been dealing with? It would have been better if you were there." John knew the exact moment his point had been made. Red shifted slightly and Liz look about as uncomfortable as ever with her being the center of attention. 

"I've got news for you. We're not exactly replaceable." Red pointed out, sarcasm hinting in his voice. 

"That may be true, but someone popped up on the radar, that might come close." Myers couldn't help but wag his finger at him, as if to emphasis the possibility. 

"What do you mean?" Liz asked.

"Well the best that I can put it." John started, trying his best to describe what he had been told. "Someone's been playing vigilante while you were gone and they're making a mess of things. Several places have caught fire, buildings torn down-it looks like a tornado ripped through by the time we get there. All we have is a few video clips of a girl fighting whatever monster was in that area. We've checked every data base possible but nobody's got a positive ID on the kid."

"When you say vigilante, are we talking hoax busts or something bigger?" Well at least Liz was showing an interest in the case. It may have been a quiet paradise for her and Red, but there were days where she missed working with the Bureau.

"I'm talking Sammael shit. _Big_ monsters!"

The mention of the hellhound had Red's full attention at last. Those things were a nightmare to kill and it had taken Liz's fire storm to finally bring them to an end. If some kid off the street was taking on creatures on a similar scale, then the kid _had_ to be as good as they were. 

"Limmie take a guess then Johnny Boy." Hellboy drawled out, leaning forward a little as he spoke. "Manning wants us to bring this kid in to be our replacement-so we can continue to stay off grid- _train her_ on some level so that she doesn't get somebody other than the baddies killed, and then what? What's in it for us?"

"Manning's offering to pay off your house if you can get this girl to come in...set you up for life if you train her." 

Red sat quietly pondering over the proposal. Five years hadn't changed the director very much. Than man was still prone to bartering for Hellboy's favor in desperate times. Something that the red devil almost started chuckling over. It was a very tempting offer, but one he would have to think about. 

"Just me bringing her in or...?"

"You can put a team together, even have Liz go with you. I'm sure the Bureau will find someone to watch the twins for you. Hell I'll watch'em for ya!" John added with a small smile. How hard could it possibly be to watch a couple of kids. Then again, these were Hellboy's kids and remembered what a handful his charge was at one point. 

"It's a tempting offer, John." Red sighed, squeezing Liz's waist lightly to signal her to stand up. The agent was starting to over stay his welcome and he needed time to think on the matter. "But I can't give you an answer right off the cuff."

"Hey, take all the time you need." Myers shrugged, sensing the shift of the mood in the air. When Liz stood, he took it as his cue to do so as well. "There's a plane at the local airport on standby. I was told to wait there a couple of days before heading back. If you're interested-"

"I'll be there." Hellboy gave the man a small smile at last and a light pat on the shoulder as he escorted him out. 

Twenty-four hours later, Hellboy, Liz, and the Twins were sitting on a plane bound for Colorado.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter is not Beta'd. I will continue to correct any mistakes as I find them.
> 
>  
> 
> Please leave a review/comment to let me know what you think of the story so far.


	2. The Opposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so it's a pain to blend the movies with the comics. That or I'm just not as skilled as other people. Anyways, the main story idea will be based primarily on the movies with the comics filling in the back stories. I have to go back and find the EXACT comic in which this story will actually take off from before bringing in more of the comic storyline.
> 
> FYI: As I feel the need to point out which death is being referred too in regards to The Professor. **For the purpose of this story,** I will go with the movie version. Yes I know, comic wise, he died via frog monster and that was what led into the actual storyline.
> 
>  I will be doing refrences to the comics. So if you see a wacky little symbol next to something, I'll have the exact comic book refrence listed at the end for those that would like to go back and read it.

"So when the hell did they move the base to the Rockies?" Hellboy asked gathering up the random bags his family had packed for their trip. Nobody really had a clue how long they would be gone for, so Liz had packed quite a bit of their things.

"About a year after you guys left." Myers answered, reaching down to grab a couple of the smaller bags. "I guess they considered the last place compromised, given how many times it was broken into. They figured they'd put this place to better use. Harder to get too if you don't have air transportation."

"Certainly has a better view!" Liz commented quickly. Trevor started to wander off and all Liz could get a hold of to keep him from going too far was the end of his tail. She had learned a while ago that Trevor was fairly tough and could handle a small yank on his tail. "This isn't a playground, so you stay close until we figure out what places are off limits for you two, got it?"

"Aw man!" Trevor whined, taking a step back so he could wrap his tail around her wrist. 

"That goes for you too young lady!"

"Yes ma'am." Zoey grumbled before taking her mother's hand. 

"Miss Elizabeth! Hellboy!" A thick German, mechanical accent rang out over the sound of the dying engine of the helicopter. 

"Gas bag? Johann!" Hellboy cheered, dropping the bags in one hand so that he could pull the ectoplasmic filled suit in for a hug. It was a surprising feeling to meet up with Johann again after they had parted ways. Still it was a familiar face-er-person that fought well, and could help keep Hellboy in line. "How have you been, man? Haven't seen you in a long time."

"About as well as you have it seems. I take it, Agent Myers had the unfortunate pleasure of telling you of Abe's and I's return to the Bureau?"

"Yeah! What's up with that?" Hellboy asked as he released his friend. The weight of the bags reminded him of his task and prompted him to picking up the ones he had dropped.

"Well, to tell you za truth. I missed the excitement of field work." Though there was no face to see, Hellboy could pick up the embarrassed tones in Johann's voice. 

"Can't say I blame you there." He chuckled softly. 

"Uncle Johann!" The twins shouted in unison. Breaking away from their mother, they darted over and gave tight hugs. 

"Goodness! You two have grown so much since I last saw you! Why, you must be at least a foot taller." Johann laughed as he knelt down for the children.

"At least they're not growing as fast as I did." Red grinned, watching as the twins started to chatter away about their adventures during their adopted uncle's absence.

"Can you tell they missed you?" Liz joked loudly enough to be heard.

"And I have missed them as well. Already they show such understanding of the world around them." Johann stood, taking one of their tiny hands into each of his gloved ones. "Ah, but let us continue this reunion indoors. The temperature is already beginning to drop and I am certain you all will want to get settled for your stay." 

"Good idea!" Myers, who had been silent through the reunion, pipped up and seemingly started running with the bags that he had. Red barked out a deep laugh at the sight. Clearly, the agent had developed a grudge against being cold.

* * *

He had insisted upon it. He wasn't going to hide what he was doing from his kids. It had hurt him to not be included in what the professor was working on as a child. He would at least allow his children to sit in on the meetings. Not that Liz agreed fully with him on that matter. 

Trevor had a knack for finding trouble wherever he went and Zoey was far more timid than her brother. Hearing things going bump in the night and not knowing what it was, was a very real fear for her. Something that Trevor exploited to his advantage. Perhaps if the twins sat in on the meeting, Zoey would see that her fear was a justified one and discourage Trevor from harassing her. Even prevent him from doing anything to rash while Red was away. 

Or so he hoped.

Hellboy drummed his fingers on the arm of the couch while his kids played with a handful of toy cars at his feet. His eyes had started to drift close, listening to the lull of the conversation between Liz and Johann. Something about tutoring the kids during off days, or another. Really only those two knew as he had lost track of the conversation while waiting for the others to show up for this meeting. He hated waiting, but it could at least be used to catch a little shut eye.

There was the distinct _whap_ of a file smacking him on the top of his head. Although it didn't actually hurt him, he still rubbed his stone hand over the offended area.

"Hey! I was sleeping here." Red grumbled to the culprit standing over him. 

"Well I hope you're well rested now. I should hate to have to rescue you on your first mission back with the Bureau." If Abraham Sapien could have smiled, He was positive that the fish hominid would be giving him a rather cocky one.

Hellboy gave a laugh and stood up to give his friend a better greeting. "Good to see ya again, Abe. I was wondering when you were going to turn up." 

"Quite. I had to retrieve the latest intel our agents could gather on our little vigilante." Abe replied, waving the file that he had smacked Red with earlier, for him to see. "It would appear that-"

"Abe! You're not supposed to start without us!" 

Both men looked up sharply as a short haired blonde woman came parading in with Manning hot on her heals. Kate Corrigan. A bold and very outspoken historian of folklore and occults. And an essential little sister to Hellboy. 

"Katie! I wasn't expecting to see you here. I actually expected you-" 

"To what? Go back to hiding behind a desk doing research on trolls?" Kate tilted her head and gave him a defiant smirk. "Nope! As a matter of fact, I was promoted to field operations manager."

"You took Manning's job?" He raised a brow, his gave darting between her and Tom. 

"Well at least when it comes to the field and what happens to our agents. _Somebody_ had to make sure that our agents are actually taken care of when things go wrong." Kate shot a look over her shoulder to a very guilty looking man.

"Ha! Finally! Under new management." Liz practically cheered. It wasn't so much as she hated the director of BPRD, but after he was willing to let Red die because of his beloved protocol, she really just didn't care for him. 

"I'm still in charge, you know." Manning straightened himself and walk with as much dignity that his former top agents had left him with, to a nearby chair. The older agent took no time in making himself comfortable with his tablet, looking as official as possible in the situation.

"Uh-huh, sure." Hellboy chuckled, easing his bulk back down onto the couch beside his wife. "If I know Kate, she's got you on a pretty tight leash." 

"Not as much as she would like." Tom grumbled. 

"Alright guys. Let's try and keep out jabs to a minimum. Manning _is_ still the BPRD's representative to the President and he's one of the few reasons our operation is still running." Kate shook her head, fighting back a smile.

It took only a moment for her to find an open seat beside Abe on a second couch. Better by him than Manning any day of the week. Just as she was about to take up the seat, she felt something move over top of her shoe. Kate looked down to find one of the twins rolling a small car over top of her shoe and back onto the small carpet. 

"Oh! Now Zoey-" Liz started, reaching a hand towards her daughter. 

"It's fine, Liz. I don't mind." Kate was amused by the little girl's antics and promptly sat down on the ground beside them. "Hey, Zoey right? What have you got there?"

Zoey looked up thoughtfully and held the car out in the palm of her hand for her to see. "Fifty-seven T'Bird." 

"A....A T'bird? Nice." Alright so Kate wasn't fully prepared for a four year old child to know the name of a hot wheels car. Of course, now that she had shown an interest in the twin's toy cars, Trevor had to make himself know.

"Not as nice as this! It's a King Kuda! It'll leave that ol' T'bird in the dust, like this! _VROOM!_ " Trevor practically launched the car across the carpet, allowing it to smack into Kate's leg. "Oops...too much vroom."

"It's alright." She soothed, picking up the car an examining it. "Though we should try and keep it down now. Us adults have to be boring and have a meeting before your dad goes out on a mission."

"Will you sit with us?" Zoey asked hopefully, scooting a little closer with her choice car. 

"Of course, but like I said, we'll have to be somewhat quiet so I can hear the conversation."

"Okay."

Kate smiled and picked up a nearby car and rolled it on the ground beside the twins. "Go ahead, Abe. I think we're ready for you." She chuckled.

Abe chuckled as well and opened the file in his hands. There was a stack of papers, newspaper clippings, and one of those newfangled thumb drives that Hellboy assumed held all of the footage they had on the kid. Most likely some crappy quality too that barely allowed for any interpretation of what had happened. 

"We've been keeping tabs on this young woman for the last two years. The first case that caught our attention was at the Chandon's residence. They were dealing with a troll at the time. A small troll-hardly anything worth mentioning really. He was cast out of the house in a rather...explosive manor." Abe gave his own small, and rather poor version of a grin. 

"Yes, to hear it described, we had wondered if perhaps _you_ had been on the scene." Johann chuckled, building onto the joke that Abe had established.

"Funny." Hellboy rolled his golden eyes, choosing to ignore the jab.

"Anyways, the troll had gone right through their front window, out onto the street where she had apparently been walking by. But the residents of the house reported her throwing the troll a good hundred feet when it tried to attack her." Abe shuffled through the pile and pulled out an old report. Seeing that Liz was too far away to receive it, he waved Trevor over to take it to her. Not that she got it any sooner. Trevor insisted on the paper going for a quick ride on top of his car, over the carpet before arrive to its destination. The only one appearing annoyed with the delay was Manning. 

"So she's unusually strong, so what?" Hellboy asked. 

"Strong perhaps. But three eye witnesses claim that she never even laid a finger on the troll. In fact, the troll was still just out of arms reach when she acted as through she was shoving him away and he was throw backward as a result." 

"Wait. She didn't even touch him and he just....flew?" Liz looked up sharply for a moment before reading more diligently over the report.

"You can understand why she had the Bureau's immediate attention." Abe nodded, shuffling through a few more papers in the file. "And that was only the first incident."

"First?" Hellboy raised a brow at him. Things were already starting to get interesting. Trolls, even a small one, were surprisingly heavy beings. To move one without even laying a finger on them was a pretty big red flag for him.

"The girl didn't turn up again for another few months. The second time was a similar manor. A seance in a motel lobby went wrong and the host became possessed." Abe handed the thumb over to Manning as he spoke. The director took it as his cue to help out with the briefing, and within minutes had attached the hardware to his tablet and pulled up a video. Tom handed the tablet over to Liz, trusting that she would be the one to handle the delicate equipment.

"The sound is off for their sake." Tom nodded towards the twins. Hellboy gave a nod of understanding. Just because the half-demon wouldn't be bothered by the sounds, it didn't mean that children should hear it. "As you can see in the video, the young woman was in the next room when the seance was going on. When things started to go wrong, those involved in the seance fled the room, with the possessed host right behind them."

Hellboy leaned closer to Liz, watching the black and white security film. The quality was better than what he could normally hope for. Thank god, for technology getting better all the time. The young girl in question had most of her face hidden under a baseball cap. _Angels_ team it looked like. Her clothes looked rough and as far as he could tell, she was light skinned. She was, just standing at the desk, looking as though she was booking a room, a large gym bag at her feet. A door, under the camera angle, was blown open suddenly. The girl had ducked down, raising her arm to shield herself from the blast of debris and papers. At one point she was temporarily blocked from view as people came racing by, clearly screaming and in fear. The girl's body language didn't appear to be scared until another figure, floating in the air, came into the frame. 

Hellboy shifted slightly as he watched the girl dance on the edge of panic and dumb bravery. The footage wavered slightly and evened back out when it looked like the being had screamed at her for her defiance. Even crouching down on the ground, instead of running as the others had. The being charged in her direction and panic seemed to win out finally. That was until she tripped over her own bag and crashed backwards onto the ground. He could feel himself tensing as he watched the video, wondering how the girl would handle it. She threw her hand up just as the being came within arm's reach. To his disbelief, the being was thrown backward and slammed into the far wall. A flurry of papers scattered about the room as through caught in a tornado. 

"What the..." He murmured, his mind automatically working on possible answers.

The girl made a mad scramble back onto her feet, keeping her hands up in some sort of fighting position now. The footage became staticy again as the host silently bellowed his fury and charged her again. Fear was still evident on the girl's stance, but this time she wasn't running. She shifted her hands so quickly, he couldn't catch what she had done in the video. What resulted though, was the host being slammed into the wall hard enough to knock several pictures off, all while the girl never touched him. 

"How is this even possible?" Liz asked when the security clip ended shortly after. 

"We've been debating it for some time now, trying to rule out as many possibilities as one can with so little evidence and not being present." Abe shook his head a bit and sighed. 

"What have you got so far?" Even as Hellboy asked, he sounded just a tad distracted with his own thoughts. Mostly with thoughts on the background of the security video. There was something odd about it, making for red flag number two. 

"Well we've considered everything from having some sort of natural ward against the super natural to Tela....tela.." Manning snapped his fingers a few times, trying his best to recall the proper term.

"Telekinesis, Tom." Kate sighed at having to come to his rescue, not even bothering to look up from what she was doing on the floor with the twins. 

"Telekinesis? Is that even possible?" Liz looked to her former partners, trying to gauge their own opinions on the matter.

"There is a chance that, that could be the case. We have stumbled across those before-"

"But none of them were powerful to move something with their minds. Especially not something as heavy as a troll-even a small one." Hellboy pointed out, ignoring his son rolling his toy over one of his hooves. "And if the kid has a _natural_ ward about her, then she isn't completely human. That or she's the first." 

"Quite." Abe nodded in agreement.

"Anything else on the kid?"

"That's the problem. Up until a few months ago, she just dropped off the radar." Kate noted, looking up to him.

"The footage we get is not as grand as the one we've shown you. Most all of them are too blurred to make out during the fight. Nearly all of them have no witnesses, and _all_ of them have a...remains....left in the mess." said Johann. 

"Remains?" That didn't sound good. That was the third and final red flag that Hellboy needed to show any real interest in finding this mysterious girl. 

"We haven't been able to positively identify what they are past-" 

"Hogwash, Director Manning!" Johann butted in. "The problem was not in the fact that they were not identifiable in general. It was the fact that they themselves did not have a name in which to identify themselves."

"What did you find?" Hellboy all but growled out. He could sense a fight building between the two agents and now was not the time for it. 

"Some were trolls, gremlins, even a handful of minor demons. The rest were-"

"Frog monsters." Abe cut in solemnly. "Like the ones we encountered at Cavendish Hall." ¥

"What?!" Hellboy practically shouted. It had been years since they had encountered those beasts. Cavendish Hall, last he knew, was still monitored for any form of life because of how dangerous the frogs were. Since they had never found the bodies or any evidence that they were still alive, he had assumed that they had died.

"I know. I don't know how they survived either without being detected." Abe sighed. 

"Those frogs are just as bad, if not _worse_ than Sammeal!" Liz looked to her husband for some sort of reassurance. 

"Now wait, just...how sure are you that it's the same frog monsters?" 

"There's no possible way to deny it-"

"Oh Wow!" Trevor suddenly exclaimed, bringing everyone's attention to him. At some point while the adults were distracted with the conversation, the boy had slipped the tablet away from Liz and had hit play on the security clip. "Hey Zoey! Look at this!" 

"Trevor! Give that back to your mother! You're not supposed to be watching that." Hellboy snapped rather hotly. His tail twitched in annoyance when the boy very pointedly ignored him to show the video to his sister. 

"Watch the girl in the cap! She made a windstorm to push the bad guy away!" 

"No way!" Zoey's eyes grew wide as she crawled over to her brother's side to see for herself. 

"Yeah way! Lookit!" Trevor grinned wildly as he pointed out the girl's second attack against the possessed host. 

"Windstorm?" Liz asked, looking just as confused as the others at his statement.

"Trevor, let me see that video again." This time there wasn't any harshness in Hellboy's voice. The sudden change was enough for his son to be hesitant. It wouldn't be the first time his father's attitude changed so quickly while still being mad at him. After a moment of deciding he wasn't at risk of a spanking, he came close enough to pass the tablet back to his parents.

Hellboy carefully held the tablet in his stone hand, tapping away on it with his flesh one. Very delicate procedures were always done with his flesh hand for obvious reasons. He played the video back again, watching for any signs of what his son's suggested. The boy was spot on. 

"I'll be damned."

"Mommy! Daddy said a bad word!" Zoey yelled, pointing out the culprit. Hellboy just starred at his daughter as the other fought to stifle their laughter. 

"Trevor's right though." Hellboy finally sighed and turned his attentions back to his friends and colleagues. "If it had been telekinesis or even a natural ward, it wouldn't have caused all those papers to move like that. You watch it. She's clearly hitting him with a blast of air."

"Are you suggesting Aerokenesis?" Abe asked, tilting his head at the notion. 

"Aerokenesis might explain it, if you could find the kid to prove it." Kate piped in. "I mean...if Liz can control fire, why would it be hard to believe that someone else could control another element?"

"You mean she can control air like I control fire?" Liz glanced down at her hands thoughtfully. Air couldn't be quite as destructive as fire, could it?

"It would explain a good bit." Kate nodded. 

"Sounds to me like we really just need to find this kid to get some answers." Hellboy mumbled. "Where was she last seen?" 

"Two weeks ago in Connecticut. Shockingly close to where the Bureau was at before coming here." Tom filled in. "We're guessing that coming to us was her original intention. The...path of destruction sort of leads right to our old door there."

"What are you saying?" Hellboy raised a brow at the Director. "That this _vigilante_ is more of an accidental thing?" 

"She does kill the monster, yes. But from what little we can gather from the scene afterward, it suggests that she was there before the creatures showed up." Said Abe. 

"So either she's summoning them for the purpose of killing them..." Liz started, hoping for a different explanation. 

"Or someone is hunting her down." Abe nodded.

"It might be possible that she is looking for help with her powers...and this monster problem." Hellboy stood to his feet, handing the tablet back to Liz. "Either way, we need to find this kid...regardless of the possibility of her being a replacement for Liz and I."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¥   
>  _Hellboy: Seeds of Destruction: part 1-4_
> 
> Back story from part one, yes, but instead of Trevor dying for the sake of this story. I'm leaving it at he was attacked and Hellboy protected him. ~~*is actually quietly admitting that the author just doesn't like the Professor dying via frog monster cause that was rude and a bitch way to go out.*~~


	3. Friend or Foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any and all mistakes are my own as I have yet to get this chapter Beta'd. If you're interested in helping me with this, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll fix them as I find them.

"Please explain to me again. Why are we searching here?" Abe asked as the SUV pulled to a stop in front of an old church.

The building had been closed after most of the roof had caved in during a service and further damage had been found to the structure. The old catholic church was scheduled to be demolished along with almost a dozen other churches in the Philadelphia area. Yet still it stood. With a few broken windows, bricks that had been chipped over the hundred and fifty years that it stood, and old wooden doors that had seen better days. Saint Boniface Church was a sight to be seen in its full glory. Now, in its last days, it was a place that only urban explorers would visit.

Hellboy huffed out a breath as he got out and the feeling of guilt started to settle over him. His father's rosary beads were faithfully wrapped around his wrist, reminding him of who he was and the path he chose to walk. It always happened when he came to a church. Being half demon, called for it's own level of guilt for walking into a holy place, but what better place for a sinner to be than in a church? It wasn't the reason for his guilt though. No. Most times when he walked into an abandoned church like this one, he usually broke something or was stuck in the middle of a fight. Now he was here, looking for a kid that had some unknown level of destructive powers, and she more than likely wouldn't come quietly. Which would lead to a fight and a guilt trip for fighting in church. 

"I didn't explain it to you the _first_ time. How can I explain it to you again a second time?" Hellboy replied, not even bothering to see if Abe was following him. 

"Alright then just explain it to me. Why are we searching abandoned churches in Pennsylvania, rather than looking in Connecticut, when evidence clearly suggests that-" 

"Listen, Abe." Hellboy sighed, rolling his shoulders back in exasperation as he turned to his old friend. "You said after the hotel incident, you lost track of the kid, right? Because every time she'd show up wrecking something, there was no records of her staying anywhere in the area." 

"That's correct."

"Did you ever consider looking for abandoned buildings in the area?" The silence was enough to give Hellboy his answer. "Well I had Liz look into it since she was better with computers and she found abandoned churches within walking distance of every incident." 

"There's two churches in Connecticut. You still have me at a loss as to why your logic suggests looking here in Philadelphia?" Abe asked, watching as Hellboy's tail swished behind him in agitation. This would make the fifth church in the city that they had checked for any signs of the girl with no luck whatsoever. 

"Abe...The Bureau's address was public record. The last time you had anything on her was within the state over two weeks ago. That's more than enough time to have found out that the Bureau moved completely, and plan her next move." 

"And you know what her next plan would be?" Abe gave him a rather sour look to show his disapproval.

"Call it a hunch." He shot back. His tail twitched some as he turned away and walked up the steps. "Look at what you already know. She's trying to lay low while finding us. That means staying out of sight as much as possible. She would have already found out that the BPRD moved and went looking for any clue as to where we went. Liz only found one public record-a newspaper story, saying it was rumored that we had moved to Colorado. It's not much to go on, but if you're desperate enough, you'll look deeper." 

"Colorado is quite a distance and would take weeks if not months to get there. Even for hitchhiking." Abe pointed out.

"So how would you get there?" Hellboy glanced over his shoulder, resting his stone hand on the door handle and a sly grin starting to form. "Keep in mind, she probably doesn't have any money."

"Flying's no good. Too expensive. Stealing a car wouldn't exactly be wise either between the police and running out of gas. Bus ride might be manageable if she panhandled enough money." Abe paused and tilted his head thoughtfully. "One could sneak aboard a freight train, I suppose."

"And that my friend is why we're searching Philly." Hellboy nodded. "Philly's the best place to-" 

He stopped when he heard a crash on the other side of the door. The crashing became louder and Hellboy grinned. "I think we just found a winner." 

The two mirrored each other as they drew their guns. At Hellboy's nod, the door was pushed open and they hurried into the church. A boulder the size of a small car flew past, causing the half-demon to lean to the side to avoid it with a yelp of surprise. The boulder skipped over the top of the SUV loudly, scraping the roof. No doubt the driver inside was terrified right now. Hellboy raised a brow and looked back inside the church. Just where in the hell did a boulder come from?

"I said _back off!_ " A female voice shouted, directing his confused attention. 

There at the front of the sanctuary, stood the girl they had been looking for. She was shorter than what he had imagined. Her ball cap was turned backwards and a dark scowl covered her face. Fists raised and feet apart, she stood tense and ready to spring into action. In front of her stood her opponent, or rather _opponents_. Three very familiar frog monsters stood, hissing and howling in rage at her. Their long tongue lashing out of their mouths in her direction. Two moved to flank her on either side while the third slowly moved forward towards her, crouching lower to the ground. Her gaze darted just enough to keep the first two in sight. Her focus was solely on them.

"Hey!" Hellboy's booming voice echoed off the stone walls, commanding all three frogs' and her attention to him. "Mind if I cut in?"

He watched as the girl glanced around, noting the distracted frogs. Even at this distance he could clearly see the slight grin on her face. She shifted and dropped to one knee, pulling her elbows up close to her sides. A low rumbling noise filled the room and just as suddenly as the sound came, the girl stood, thrusting her fists up and out to form a Y. Two columns of rock shot out of the ground beneath the two frogs that had flanked her sides. Duel screams of agony were heard echoing as the columns pushed them and crushed them high against the church walls. Blood splattered the walls and started to pool on the floor beneath the corpses. 

Hellboy was stunned into silence. He had prepared himself for seeing her control air, but rock? She had just moved solid rock! "Oh...crap."

"I don't believe it! She's geokinetic." Abe exclaimed. 

The third frog turned back and roared at her. The newcomers temporarily forgotten. The girl was back in her earlier stance, panting heavily, staring down the green monster. The wet slap of its webbed toes bounced off the stone as it took two steps and lunged at her. Hellboy could feel the panic in him start to rise for the girl and aimed his gun at the frog. He hesitated. She was too close and he could miss entirely. 

The girl yelped and drew her fists up to cross in front of her face. The ground lurched again and two spears rocketed upwards, mimicking her hand motions. A scream filled the room as He and Abe watched the stone spears pierce the frog, suspending it in the air in front of the girl. Black liquid oozed down the rock in thick streams while it struggled to get free. Hellboy snapped out of his daze long enough to race up towards the front of the sanctuary. There was no point in allowing the thing to suffer a slow death. He wouldn't have been able to get any answers out of the creature anyhow. 

"You just don't know when to quit do ya?" The girl shouted the question as he rounded the speared frog. 

The green bastards long tongue flicked out trying to reach her in it's dying moments. Hellboy fired the Samaritan, severing the tongue, much to the frog's protest. 

He aimed his gun a second time. The gunfire thundered throughout the whole church, rattling the windows in the process. Blood and matter rained down on the pews behind what remained of the corpse.

When he turned back he found the girl in her fighting stance, panting heavily. Dark colored eyes raked over him as though she was sizing him up. Her skin was darker than what he had guessed at from the security footage. His head tilted thoughtfully as he tried to name the color in the dimming light. He had finally settled on a light coppery color, when she spoke up.

"You plan on making a move, demon, or do I need to make one for you?" The tone was all sass, but it was laced with hesitation. 

"What, like attack you?" The name caused his tail to twitch in annoyance. The motion caught her attention for a second before she met his gaze again and nodded. "I'm not gunna hurt ya, unless you make me." 

It was painfully obvious that she didn't believe him. Her eyes darted, looking at something just past his shoulder. He turned, starting to brace for an attack when he saw that it was just Abe walking up and holstering his gun. Hellboy did the same only more slowly. The kid was already jumpy from the frog attack. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea about him. 

"Are you going to put the other one down?" She asked. 

Hellboy raised a brow at her, not completely understanding the question. He didn't have another gun on him, so what was she talking about? 

"I think she's referring to your hand." Abe noted, coming up to stand beside him. 

"Oh...sorry kid, but," He grinned, lifting his stone hand up and wiggling his rocky fingers. "It's kinda attached." 

Her hands lowered and her expression changed into one of surprise. "It's stone!" 

"You can tell that, huh?"

She paused for a moment before jerking her right fist back and flexed her fingers. Small bits of rock and rubble flew up from around her feet and settled over her hand. Within a blink of an eye, she had a thick rocky cast over her right hand. A rough copy of his own stone one. The girl moved her hand, testing the weight of it. 

"It's pretty heavy." She noted. 

"Feel safer now?" He asked, watching her carefully. Her hand motions. It some how aided her in controlling the earth and presumably air as well. That much he had gathered. If it came down to fighting her, he would have to find a way to restrain her hands. 

"With the playing field leveled a bit? A little." She gave a small nod of her head. Her gaze continuously shifting from Hellboy to Abe. 

"Good." Hellboy returned the nod. "My name is Hellboy. I'm with the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. This is my colleague, Abraham." 

"You're...you're with them?"

"Well technically, he's retired." Abe chuckled at the scowl that Hellboy shot his direction for the comment. The girl watched for a moment before shifting her weight to better balance herself with the stone cast over her hand. 

"But you _are_ with them, right?" She asked again, stressing her words a little. 

"No, we're with the junior league hockey team-of course we're with the BPRD!" Hellboy snapped. A mistake that he instantly regretted when her hands lifted back into their fighting stance. She was still on edge with him around. Abe cleared his throat, helping to cut through the building tension. 

"I know we're not exactly what you would expect. But we are from the BPRD. We're essentially the A-team that goes into highly dangerous and questionable situations." Abe explained gently. "We've been monitoring your work for some time and I must say it's quite astounding." 

"Suck up." Hellboy muttered under his breath. 

"I didn't mean to trash those places...I was just trying to defend myself." She seemed more hesitant than before, Hellboy noticed. 

"I'd say you're doing a pretty good job." Hellboy jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the dead frogs. 

"Your trail suggested that you were trying to find us at our old headquarters in Fairfield. Did we assume correctly?" Abe added with a seemingly endless patience. 

"I...I wanted help...with getting rid of the things that come after me." 

"But not with your abilities?" Hellboy asked. The girl's face darkened and she raised her fists again, barely adjusting her stance. 

"I don't need help with my powers. I just want these monsters to leave me alone." She replied angrily. 

"Perhaps if we understood more about your-" 

"No!" She cut Abe off. "If you can't help me without messing with my powers, then I don't want your help!"

"Kid, we're just-" 

"I will _not_ become some lab rat again!" 

Hellboy grew still. How many times had he heard that statement in the past. With Abraham and Liz, even Robert before he died. All unique and special in a world of normalcy that wanted to treat them like freaks. When all they wanted was to be treated with the same respect as everyone else. This kid clearly wanted the same as what He and the rest of his friends had fought so hard for in the Bureau. 

"I won't let that happen to ya kid." He soothed, taking a step forward. 

The girl took a few steps back and thumped against the wall. Her eyes widened slightly and he knew he was too close for her comfort zone still. The light from the window shone down on her, revealing more about the girl to him. Like how she was beyond exhausted from the dark circles under her eyes. Most likely starving and underweight from her baggy her clothes that we more stains than colored. His golden eyes landed on a wet and torn patch on her black jacket. She shifted under his close scrutiny and bloodied flesh came into view of the rip. 

"You're hurt?"

"I'm fine." She insisted.

"You don't have to act tough around me, kid." Hellboy's clipped tone caused her to tense even farther. Anymore and he was sure she would snap like a bow string. Unpredictable dangerous. "If those frogs hurt you, then we have to get it looked at." 

"I said I was fine!" 

"Miss, we have to treat your arm. An infection from one of could be fatal." Abe pointed out, slowly easing forward.

" _Could be?_ You mean you don't have a clue." She was starting to tremble. Hellboy started to recognize the sighs of a panic attack. That or she was starting to get really pissed off at them. 

"We're not here to hurt you kid." He shook his head. "We're just here to help."

"You've done enough. Now go." The girl snapped.

"Hey! You're the one that was coming to find us for help!"

"With getting rid of monsters!" 

"Look we're just going to take you to the hospital-"

" _To hell with that_ " The girl shouted suddenly. She waved her hand above her head in a circle, before pointing her palm at him. A blast of air slammed into Hellboy's chest, throwing him into the pews behind him. Breaking at least two under his weight alone. She did the same towards Abe, though he had more warning and ducked to the side. The girl spun and high kicked in his direction, sending out another blast of air.

Hellboy grunted and shook off the pain of the splintered wood jabbing him. The girl tried to ran past him, heading towards the back of the church. Thinking fast, he stuck his hand out and caught the tip of her ragged sneaker. With a yelp, the girl crashed to the ground.

"Let go!" She shouted, kicking his hand away. When that didn't work, she growled and stomped her foot on the ground. Hellboy felt a blow to his gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him airborne. His back collided with a column, bombarding his system with fresh pain only to fall ten feet down to the stone floor. Debris from the shambled roof rained down on him. 

His temper flared then and there. How dare that wisp of a girl toss him around like some rag doll when he was sent to help her? Hellboy growled out a few profanities as he dug his way out of the pile. When he looked back to where he had been, he saw a short stone post. So that was what launched him. It didn't ease his temper one bit. Now the girl was going to get it.

Her light foot falls echoed off the wall of the old church. He found her a scant second later, running up the stairs to the choir balcony. Whatever her reasons was for cornering herself up there, he didn't care. He had a job to do and that was to get her to come quietly or kicking and screaming. The noisy way seemed to be her pick. 

"Screw this." He spat out angrily. 

He looked at the rubble around him and picked up a soft ball sized rock. As soon as the girl came into view on the balcony, running towards what was left of a pipe organ, he threw it. His aim with a gun might have been terrible, but when it came to throwing stuff, he was just plain deadly. The rock collided right into the wound on her shoulder. A painful scream filled the church. The hit threw her off balance along with the weight of the rocky cast still coating her right hand. Hellboy watched her fall over something he couldn't see and hit her head on the edge of the organ in a clatter of noise. Hard. 

"Ah crap." He muttered, his anger draining away when she didn't get back up. "Abe?"

"I'm alright." Abe called out, jogging up to his friend's side. "Well, I guess that proves that she's aerokinetic. I wasn't expecting the geokinetic though, but it would explain a lot about the damage that was reported." 

"Right," Hellboy grumbled, heading towards the stairs the girl had taken. "Let's hope for no more surprise kinetics. Stay here will ya? Make sure she isn't playin' us." 

"Certainly." 

Hellboy made his way up the stairs, only to find a disaster zone waiting for him. Piles of wood and rubble covered almost every inch of the balcony. No wonder the girl had stumbled. There were several wooden pipes that had been removed from the old organ, strewn about. A couple still rocking back and forth gently from being disturbed. 

The girl laid still, crumpled on the floor. Her hat had fallen off in the chaos. Blood trickling out of a fresh cut on the side of her head. Thankfully she had landed on her side so that she wasn't laying on her wound. The rock that had encased her hand had fallen away. Hellboy maneuvered around the tripping hazards to kneel by her side. She was still breathing. He checked her pulse just to be sure. It was strong enough to show that she was alive, just knocked unconscious. 

"She alright?" Abe called from the ground floor. 

"Yeah...unconscious but okay. Come on up, just watch where you step." Hellboy replied, looking up from the girl to the remaining structure of the pipe organ. 

Just why in the hell would she come running up here? It didn't make any sense unless she was hiding something. Hellboy stood to his feet and carefully stepped around the girl to peer inside. A crumpled up blanket lay on a shelf barely wide enough for a person to lay on. Beneath it was, what he assumed was, her gym bag from the motel. Zipped shut and bulky looking. On another smaller shelf where a handful of random trinkets. A tiny glass figurine of a bird, a beautifully carved cross, and various rocks of a variety of colors and shapes. On the end was a worn out looking book. The gold letter faded from use and age, barely made out two words. _Holy Bible._

"She's Christian?" Abe asked from behind him suddenly and Hellboy nodded. 

"Looks like it. Explains why she was hiding in churches."

"We should take her to a hospital."

"No." Hellboy stated firmly. "She didn't want to go to a hospital before and you saw what she did. Imagine what would happen if she woke up in one." 

"Good point."

"We'll let her wake up here and then go from there. We'll just have to do what we can without real medical help." He sighed, easing his way back out to where the girl was. 

"I'll go get the first aid from the car and let the Bureau know what's happening." Abe reluctantly agreed and started for the stairs. 

Hellboy grunted and went back to the girl. Her words echoed inn his head about how she didn't want to be a lab rat again. Whatever the doctors had done to her had caused her violent reaction. How many injuries had she gained since the monsters started attacking her had gone untreated because of it? He couldn't say. He knew virtually nothing about the kid other than what he had seen since he walked through the doors of the church. She could manipulate rock and air, directing them with hand motions and had a fear-to-near-hatred of doctors and hospitals. That was it. He despised finding himself in scenarios where he got more questions than answers. 

There wasn't much else he could do except to make her more comfortable while she was out. The half demon was incredibly strong, but he could be gentle when the situation called for it. He slipped his hands under her knees and head, gingerly picking her and cradling her to his chest. Slowly he stood and made his way back inside the pipe organ to her makeshift bed. If he could even call it that. He carefully laid her on the shelf and fixed the blanket into a pillow, tucking it under her head. 

All there was left to do was wait for her to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¥Saint Boniface Church did in fact exist. The church was constructed in 1872 and eventually closed in 2006. Due to the amount of damage and erosion caused to the brownstone used to build it, the 150 year old Gothic style church was demolished in 2012. Saint Boniface was one of a near dozen Catholic churches that were demolished that year alone. If you would like to see pictures of this beautiful church, click the link below.  
> http://www.abandonedamerica.us/st-boniface
> 
>  
> 
> ¥ ¥Roger first appeared in _Hellboy: Wake the Devil_ and later died in _B.P.R.D. : The Garden of Souls ___


	4. A Choice

Hellboy watched over the girl for the next two hours. The deep cut on her upper arm had been cleaned, stitched up, and bandaged while she was out.Her jacket had been removed and laid near her for when she would wake up. Her forehead sported a large bump from where she had hit it on the pipe organ. It had been some time ago that her unconscious form had slipped into a deep REM sleep. Good. The girl need the rest as far as Hellboy could tell. Maybe then she'd be more willing to think about the offer he had.

Abe had gone with the agent that had driven them to the church, to pick up a quick meal. Leaving him to watch over his charge. Or more like leaving him to poke through the girl's trinket collection on the shelf, keeping his back to her. There were several different minerals, ones he didn't know off the top of his head. A purple geode. A polished rose quartz marble. He had just moved onto looking at the detailed tiny glass bird when he heard her breathing shifted. 

His tail curled closer to him in an effort to give her as much space as possible in the cramped quarters. He pretended to be absorbed in what he was doing, even though he was paying attention to her. She was awake, probably gaining her bearings and trying to not draw attention to herself. He could hear her shifting, pausing when the small shelf bed would creak under her weight. Her breathing had picked up slightly, obviously having spotted him finally. There was more shifting and a small hiss sound. 

"You said you didn't want to go to a hospital." He commented quietly, still keeping his back to her. "And your arm needed to be taken care of, so we did the best we could." 

There was a long pause before he dared to look over his shoulder at her. Her eyes were downcast, flicking occasionally his way. She had drawn her knees up close to her chest and her hand resting over the bandage on her arm. 

"Found your hat." He added.

Hellboy reached into his coat's pocket and pulled out the _Angels_ cap she had worn earlier. He twisted enough to offer the hat to her. He could have easily tossed it to her, but he wanted her to start coming out of her comfort zone enough to talk to him. It took her a few minutes but slowly, she reached out. Keeping her eyes on him the whole time. At the absolute last second, when her fingers brushed over the brim, she snatched it and retreated quickly. 

"I told you before. I'm not gunna hurt ya unless you make me...I'm here to help you." He said, then turned his attention back to her trinkets. 

There was movement out of the corner of his vision a moment later. The stone marble wobbled slightly before levitating into the air. It zipped out of sight, forcing him to turn to see where it went. Like a baseball landing in a mitt, the marble found a new resting place in the girl's palm. Their eyes met briefly and she looked away, rolling the marble in her hand. It was a 'worry stone', he realized. 

"You have a name kid?" he asked, finally facing her. 

"Yes." She answered quietly. "D-Dannie." 

"Dannie." He repeated. An odd feeling slipped over him. As though he he knew the name but couldn't quite place it. Like an old memory that was difficult to recall. "That short for something?" 

"I don't know." 

"Okay." He drawled out. The answer made him curious, but he didn't push the issue. "Any relatives or friends?"

She shrugged her answer. A sinking feeling bloomed inside him. 

"Alright. Any idea why you were attacked?" She shook her head no and the feeling grew. "Dannie, how long have you been on your own?"

"Since I ran away from the hospital." She muttered.

"Which was?"

"Five, six years ago? Maybe longer. I wasn't very good at keeping track of dates then." Dannie didn't make eye contact with him. She kept her palm open, carefully rolling the stone in the center of it. 

"Long time." Hellboy murmured. He watched her shift as though she was uncomfortable with being asked so many questions. With a sigh, he rubbed his face with his flesh hand. "Listen, Dannie. I want to help you, I really do. But I can't unless you hear me out, without panicking. Do you think you can do that?" 

Dannie closed her hand over the stone and nodded. She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to herself. "I'm sorry for earlier...I shouldn't have-" 

"I hit you in your bad arm with a rock," Hellboy cut her off with a gentle tone. "I'd say we're even." 

The girl made a rather confused look at first. A moment later she seemed to acknowledge that her previous behavior had been excused. It concerned him, that she to be so naive. She could control air and earth, yet she didn't seem to have many answers for him.

"May I?" He gestured towards the empty spot beside her. He half expected her to balk and was surprised when she agreed to allow him to sit so close to her. The shelf bed creaked under his weight but didn't give. "I'm going to be straight with you, kid. The Bureau's hoping I can convince you to come work for them and have me train you to be my replacement." 

"No."

"Now wait. Let me finish. My job was to get you to at least show up there and in exchange, my home would be paid off. I wouldn't have to worry 'bout keeping a roof over my wife and kids' heads." Dannie looked up in surprise. 

Clearly the idea of him being married and having kids was a complete shocker. With a grin, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a folded picture and handed it to her. It was one Abe had taken at the hospital when the twins were born. He had been sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Zoey and Trevor in his arms, with a tired Liz resting her cheek against his shoulder. Of all the pictures that had been taken that day, this one was his favorite.

"They'd set me up for life if I trained you, but you said something earlier that had me thinking." He paused and waited for her to look up from the picture to acknowledge him. "You didn't want to be a lab rat again. I know all too well what that's like. So does my wife, Liz, and my friend Abe. So I want to make you an offer."

"What's that?" She asked quietly. 

"Come with me to the Bureau. Just show up, that's all you'd have to do. You'd be doing me a huge favor and in return, if you decide that you don't want to work there for whatever reason. I'll walk you right back out those doors and take you to wherever you want to go." 

"You'd...you'd really do that? Just let me go my own way."

"Yup." Hellboy nodded. "If you decided to stay. I'll personally train you in the best ways to get rid of what's after you. You'd have a real place to sleep...without worrying about things sneaking in to attack you."

She looked back down at the picture in her hand. A mix of emotions crossed her face as she thought over his offer. "Any where I want to go? If I change my mind?"

"Mhm." 

"What would I be doing with the Bureau?" Dannie asked, handing the picture back to him. 

"Pretty much what you're doing already." Hellboy replied, taking the picture and returning it to his pocket. "Killing monsters and stopping ghosts. You'd also help with solving paranormal cases and protecting the public from things that don't belong in this world."

"If I'm doing that already, why should I go to the Bureau?" She started rolling the marble around in her hand again. He couldn't tell if she was doing it because she was thinking hard or because she was nervous still. 

"Well for one thing, you wouldn't have to worry about where your next meal is coming from." The girl froze at his words. Hellboy could have kicked himself for the insensitivity that had filled them. He sighed and tried again. "The Bureau is known world wide. You'd be able to help a lot more people with your gifts."

"Yeah, by wrecking more buildings." Dannie let out a half-hearted snort.

"Occupational hazard." He shrugged. "I've taken out entire buildings before and my wife has burnt several to the ground."

"Burnt?" She asked, looking up sharply. The marble becoming still in her hands.

"She's Pyrokinetic." Dannie looked confused again, making him baffled. "She can control fire-how have you not heard this term before with your powers." 

"She can control fire too?!" Her eyes widened and her head raised up off her knees. 

"Wait, what do you mean, 'too'? You can't possibly be able to control more." Hellboy's gaze narrowed at her. Starring at her like he would any difficult problem. This time she didn't shy away from his scrutiny. She genuinely look interested in the topic of his wife's powers. 

"They said I was a quad....quadkin...quad some thing. They had a monk, I think, come to advise when I started manipulating things. He said that it was a balance of the mind." It was offical. He was more confused than her. The way she spoke and what she was talking about just added to the pile of questions that surrounded him. "Can she really manipulate fire?"

"Manipulate, create, she can do a lot with it." He muttered, trying to make sense out of what she had said.

"Create?! Like she can just _make_ a fire appear? It doesn't have to exist first?"

"Just hold up a minute, kid. You've left me with more questions than answers!" It was a relief to see some emotion other than stoic and fear on her face. The marble in her hand was forgotten completely, so he guess she wasn't quite so scared anymore. Maybe that was the key he needed; talking about something she was comfortable with. Course he was also wishing he had allowed Liz to tag along now. "Can you answer some of the ones I have? Just so I know what I'm dealing with."

"Okay...I guess." She was hesitant again, but not as much as before. Maybe he could get somewhere now.

"When you say 'they', I'm assuming you mean the doctors at the hospital. Right?" She gave a solid nod. One question down, a thousand more to go. "Do you remember anything about the monk?"

"Just what he said to me." She shifted uncomfortably. The subject obviously unnerved her. He hoped that he could at least get some more pieces to the puzzle before she got too uncomfortable. "He said, one power or four for the balance of the mind. Two was unstable, and three was somewhat stable but would eventually hurt me under pressure. With four, it was like corner stones of a house. A strong foundation with equal balance. After that they started saying quadkin-something a lot when they were referring to me."

"Quadkinetic?"

"Yes! That's the word! But I don't know what it means." She sighed, resting her chin on top of her knees again. A low gurgling sound came from her, causing her eyes to widen and her cheeks to redden. She was hungry. A small smile crept onto his face.

"Abe'll be here with food soon." Hellboy reassured, earning a ghost smile from her. "Kinetic, or kinesis is the one you'll hear some times, means 'movement of', whatever word is before it. I think it's Greek, I might be wrong. But I do know quad means four. So quadkinetic means movement of four. I've seen you control air and rock. So specifically, that would be areokinetic and geokinetic. Areo meaning air and geo meaning earth-"

"And pyro means fire?" She cut in, listening to his explanation. 

"Yeah...I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you can control fire as well?" He pressed, hoping to understand why she was so interested in knowing about his wife.

"Control, yes. Create?" She shook her head no before continuing. "I can only manipulate what is already present and I can see or sense." 

"Oh." He contemplated over her answer. Well that explained that. Earth, air, and fire. He could only guess at what the fourth was but he wanted to hear it straight from her. "So what else can you manipulate?"

"Water. But only when it's either a liquid or a gas. I can't figure out how to use it when its ice." Dannie ducked her head at his sudden chuckle.

"I'm glad to see you at least know your limits with your powers. Water is hydro, and it sounds like you're an element manipulator." He explained when he finally stopped his amusement. 

"Thank you." The girl gave a faint smirk, here eyes meeting his. "None of doctors would tell me what any of those words meant. They liked to keep things from me, it seemed."

"They really treated you like a lab rat didn't they?" His voice softened further at her thanks. 

"After it happened the first time, yes. They moved me to another hospital after I healed." That didn't sound good. The sinking feeling began again as he started to press for answers. He still had to figure out what she meant by four.

"Healed?" 

"I don't remember much from before...just pain. It was raining and dark out. I was...wet. Then there were lights....and then more lights and a loud sound...people took me to a hospital. I fell asleep for a while, and then woke up again." Her words sounded forced, and broken. "They asked me a lot of questions, but I couldn't answer them. I don't know how I was hurt or what caused it. I knew my name and that was all I could really give them."

Hellboy sighed, his shoulders dropped as it dawned on him. She was an amnesia patient. Retrograde from the looks of it. "Were you aware of your powers then?"

"Not immediately. But after it happened..." Dannie started to roll the marble in her palm again. "It was like that part in Finding Nemo, where the blue fish remembered she could read. Only I don't forget again after I remember it. Like I remember that I could do that one thing specifically. I don't recall when or why I had done the thing. Just that I could do it."

Hellboy couldn't help but smirk at the analogy. The twins had watched the movie a minimum of a dozen times, getting that damn swimming song stuck in his head. The comparison did help him to understand her to some degree. She had some sense of who she was and what she could do. The fact that she was able to remember that she could do things previously after having done them, meant that her condition wasn't permanent.

"Well alright then. That clears up a few things, and leaves a bunch more questions." He chuckled. 

"Sorry." She mumbled, turning her head so that her cheek could rest against her knees. Her hand closed around the marble, opting to just hold her knees to her chest. She look exhausted still, reminding him that she probably hadn't had a real night's sleep in ages. 

"Don't be sorry, kiddo." He soothed, nudging her arm with his elbow. Dannie flinched at the touch, tensing up again. When he made no further action to touch her, she relaxed again. "It just means that I can't push certain things. Like asking how you got hurt, how you got your powers, age, history. Things like that."

"Oh."

A beeping sound came from his coat pocket. Gently, he started patting them, trying to find the right one. The sound continued until he fished a cell phone out and answered it. 

"Talk to me," He answered gruffly, pushing off the makeshift bed and walking out into a more open area. 

_"Red? It's Abe. We're on our way back to the church now with dinner. How is our little friend doing?_

"She's awake and hungry."

_"Good thing I bought extra. I take it she's being more cooperative now?"_ Abe asked over the phone.

"Well she's not trying to pull any moves on me again, if that's what you're asking." Hellboy turned and peaked back into the makeshift room. The girl was watching him closely, her cheeks reddening at being caught. He gave a soft smile.

_"That's good news...Anyways, we're only a few minutes out."_

"Okay. See ya when you get here." He finished and hung up shortly after. "Chow'll be here in a few minutes, so don't make any rock slides when they open the door."

"Chow?" Dannie yawned and shook her head as thou to clear the sleep away.

"Food, dinner, meal time." He rattled off casually, shoving the phone in his pocket. She made a sound of acknowledgement.

Hellboy watched her for a moment, taking in her appearance. She was so childlike, curled up on the shelf bed. Having gone for so long on her own resulted in her tangled black hair, dirt smudges everywhere. Her clothes were more like rags and shoes held together with bits of duck tape. She was exhausted, hungry, and alone. Throw in powers that she was having to relearn and unworldly creatures attacking her, and she was a walking disaster. His heart went out to her. Even if she didn't want to go to the Bureau, he would find a way to help the kid out. On this he was certain that even Liz would agree too. 

"Hey Dannie?" He paused, waiting for her tired eyes to meet his. "If you don't want to go to the Bureau with me, that's fine. I'll still teach you, if you'd like."

"You will?" She questioned. When he gave his answering nod, she continued. "I...I want to go to the Bureau...just to see."

"Fine by me." Said Hellboy. "Want to get your stuff together while we're waiting for Abe?"

Dannie looked around the inside of the pipe organ. "Okay, I guess."

"Need help?"

"No." She replied simply. Leaving him to watch as she eased her way off the shelf bed. Immediately she shrugged her way into her tattered coat and shoved the rosy marble into her pocket before she busied herself with her task. Her lumpy duffle bag was removed from under the shelf and set on top. The zipper got stuck only once, dragging a small grunt out of her in effort to move it. Hellboy stood a little straighter, trying to peer inside. All he could see though was a handful of extra clothing in similar condition to what she already wore. The girl dug through it to pull out a shoe box, filled with bubble wrap. With great care, she wrapped each of her rocks and small trinkets in the bubble wrap and put them into the box. Hellboy could only imagine the story behind each item for her to use such care. When everything was packed away into the bag to her satisfaction, she picked up her ball cap and put it on right. 

Dannie pulled the large strap over her head and eased her way out of the remains of the pipe organ. That was, until the sound of doors opening caused her to freeze. Hellboy's hand shifted to rest on the handle of his gun, tensing as she did. 

"Honey, I'm home." Abe called out from under the balcony. Hellboy relaxed and turned back to the still tensed girl.

"Sounds like take-outs arrived." He joked. Dannie must have taken it as a sign that everything was okay and relaxed again. 

"And no rock slides." She added, fumbling her way over the debris towards the stairs. Hellboy let out a short laugh. She had a sense of humor. Good. 

Hellboy followed after her and found Abe waiting at the bottom of the steps for them. The girl had paused a couple of steps from the landing and hung her head. 

"I'm sorry if I hurt you earlier, sir." She mumbled just loud enough to be heard. Abe glanced between the girl and his friend for some explanation for the sudden apology. Finding none, he simply shrugged. 

"It's quite all right, miss. We all tend to do rash things when we're scared." Abe replied casually. "And please. Call me Abe, miss...?"

"Dannie." 

"What a lovely name." Hellboy rolled his eyes at Abe's comment but otherwise kept silent. "Well miss Dannie, I trust Hellboy has already spoken to you about the job offer at the Bureau-"

"He did."

"Then I have hamburgers in the vehicle waiting for us. I also bought a salad in case you are a vegetarian." 

"Nice." Hellboy snickered, ignoring the pointed look his friend gave him. 

"I-is it okay if we eat here? I don't do so well eating in moving cars." Dannie hesitantly requested. The girl shuffled her weight from one foot to the other as she waited for an answer. 

"Car sick?" The half demon asked.

"No. I just..." She shifted again and adjusted the strap over her chest. "I tend to miss my mouth a lot when it comes to eating in cars."

Hellboy quickly looked away, biting down on the inside of his cheek to keep from bursting into laughter. His shoulder's even started to shake from the effort he put in. 

"Well," He could hear Abe struggling to keep his voice even and free of amusement. He would have to congratulate him later for doing a better job than him. "I'm sure we could eat somewhere out of the way of the clean up crew. They should be here soon, actually, to take care of them." 

Hellboy managed to look back to see him jabbing his thumb towards the front of the church. The stench of the dead frogs was starting to reach the far end of the church now. He didn't want to think of how bad the smell would be up close to them. He could just make out the difference between the metallic scent of blood and the swampy frog smell. 

"Maybe outside on the steps?" He suggested, turning his attention to the girl. 

Dannie looked up at him and nodded her approval. She gave a very faint smile and walked down the last couple of steps, following after Abe towards the door. The girl stopped suddenly, looking back towards the damage she had create earlier. The angled columns that mirrored one another, holding two of the crushed frogs up high against the walls. The third frog was still suspended in the crossed spears. Dannie made her way to the front under Hellboy's watchful gaze. She pulled off the duffle bag, letting it fall to the floor with a soft thump. 

The girl turned her hat backwards as if preparing herself for the task at hand. She stretched her arms out, clenching her fists before thrusting them downward. The two angled columns shook and retreaded back into the floor. Stone scraping against stone echoed in the great hall. Gravity took control of the mangled corpses, pealing them off the wall and throwing it into the pools of drying blood. Black goo splattered outward, staining more of the old church floor. The girl started coughing and gagging. The sound tugged at Hellboy, urging him to move towards her. Dannie didn't stop her impromptu mission though. The girl crossed her arms in front of her and pulled back to her sides. The third frog shivered as the spears slid away, allowing the carcass to fall into its own spilt blood. 

Dannie swayed suddenly and doubled over. The girl barely caught herself to prevent herself from falling over. Her hands gripping her knees for what little balance she could gain. Hellboy wasn't sure at what point he had started running, but he did know that he was by her side in an instant, resting his flesh hand on her back. She was trembling under his hand, swaying, and barely keeping her balance. 

"You okay, kiddo?" He asked.The stench of the dead frogs was over powering even for him. He was almost positive that was part of what was causing the girl to cough so violently. 

The girl shook her head no and started to topple forward. Reflex took over and Hellboy scooped the girl up into his arms with ease. His stone hand probably wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world to be cozied up too, but it would do and it didn't look like Dannie was about to complain. The girl had her eyes tightly closed and a hand pressed over her mouth and nose. Hellboy uttered some reassurance to her as he carried her back towards the door, pausing long enough to grab her bag. Abe took the bag from him as he passed so that he could better carry the girl outside into the fresher air. 

"...just take it easy for a minute, Dannie." Hellboy continued to soothe as he knelt and helped to set her down on the step. The girl's coughing finally slowed enough for her to gasp in a few breaths.

"I-I just...." She croaked out, holding her head between her knees. "God, that _smell!_ "

"I know kid. That was pretty rank." He rubbed the small of her back, helping to ease some of her coughing. 

"I just wanted to fix-" She started coughing again, much to the agents' displeasure. Abe set the bag down and hurried to the SUV that was waiting for them only to return moments later with a bottle of water. The girl looked up when she heard the cap opening and saw him hand her the drink. She continued after she had gulped down almost half of it. "I just wanted to fix what I broke. I didn't think they'd stink so badly."

"Abe? You might want to call the clean-up crew and tell them to wear hazmat gear. If it's making her sick..." Hellboy continued to rub the girl's back while she drank the rest of the water. Worry colored his features as he thought of what the smell might do to the clean up crew, that had to be exposed to it the longest. 

"They should probably just burn it, if that's the case." Abe muttered, mostly to himself, and pulled out his cell to make the call.

"Do you want to eat still?" Hellboy asked softly, turning his attention back to Dannie. 

"I...I don't want too, but it might be better if I ate something." She admitted, crossing her arms over her knees and resting her head on top. Her eyes fluttered shut and barely audible sigh escaped her. A smirk tugged at Hellboy's mouth. The girl was being lulled to sleep with him rubbing her back. An action he stopped so that he could sit on the step next to her. Dannie turned her head so that she could see him.

"Right. Last meal was when?" He mused, already guessing that it might have been a day or two for her.

"I don't want to tell you."

"Why not?"

"Cause then you'll feel sorry for me, and you all ready do." She retorted easily. "Why else would you offer to help me, even if I don't stay with the Bureau?"

"Maybe because I've been on your side of the fence, once upon a time ago?" He shot back a little harsher than intended. She didn't flinch though. Possibly too tired to actually care anymore. She understood that she wasn't in danger and that seemed to be enough for her to finally relax around him. Trouble was, relax apparently meant that exhaustion got the better of her. Her dark eyes closed again and she didn't say anything more. Hellboy shook his head and sighed. The early evening sun gave the world around them an amber tinge. Her copper colored skin seemed to glow a darker shade under all the dirt smudges. 

"Hellboy?" She mumbled after a while. 

"Hm?"

"I didn't put the post back."

"What post?" Hellboy raised a brow, trying to figure out what she meant by that statement.

"The one I hit you with when you tripped me." She admitted, opening her eyes slightly as she did so.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that. This place is scheduled for demolition later this month." "Oh." Dannie closed her eyes again and was silent for a moment. "I'm worried."

" 'bout what?"

"Them attacking me again..."

"The monsters?" He asked.

"Mhm." She yawned and nuzzled her head against her arms.

"Don't worry 'bout em kid." Hellboy smiled and moved closer too her. His arm wrapped around her and gently pulled her into his side. "I'll keep you safe while you're out."

If she had heard him, then it would have surprised him, because the second she was against him, she was snoring softly. Sound asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Please excuse any mistakes. This chapter has yet to be Beta'd)
> 
> Yes, yes I know. This seems like some Avatar: Last Air Bender crossover. I promise though, this is NOT a cross over. Please bare with me on this one and I'll make it worth the read. Speaking of which, I would LOVE to hear from you all. Constructive criticism is most welcome. So are Kudos for that matter.


	5. Plans Go Astray

The helicopter jerked suddenly, nearly tearing the tablet that Abraham was working on, away from him. The fish hominid muttered a few choice words to himself and went back to filling out a report. Hellboy had filled him in on everything he had learned about the apparent quadkinetic during drive to the military air base. The girl had barely roused enough to eat, let alone acknowledge that they were even getting into the SUV. A helicopter even, for that matter! Her exhaustion was evident, though Abe believed that she should have been rested enough to be more talkative in the fight back. Abe had been typing away on his tablet, once his conversation with Hellboy had found a lull, jotting down as many notes as possible to build a file on the girl.

He looked up when another jostle of turbulence broke his concentration. Dannie's head laid in Hellboy's lap, her body stretched out on the bench beside him. A blanket had been provided for her at some point during the flight, only to be snuggled in further with his stone arm protectively laid over her shoulders. Still sound asleep and presumable snoring softly with her mouth cracked open. Not that Abe could hear it over the droning sound of the helicopter blades rotating above them. Her trust in Hellboy keeping her safe while she slept was more than apparent. Abe went back to typing after that. 

>   
>  _Date Report Filed: July 30, 2013_
> 
> _Name: Unknown_  
>  _Alias: Dannie_  
>  _Ethnicity: Unknown_  
>  _Born: Unknown_  
>  _Gender: Female_  
>  _Hair: Black_  
>  _Eye Color: Dark brown_  
>  _Height: 5'0"_
> 
> _-Claims to be a 'Quadkinetic'. Though evidence has been proven to show Areokinesis and Geokinesis. Possible Hydo and Pyro kinetic abilities as well though not seen at this time._  
>  _-Has a fear of doctors and hospitals. Highly advised to not mention such in her presence._  
>  _-Shows signs of being retrograde amnesia patient. Recalls events as far back as 2004 where memories become sketchy. Earliest memory is of her walking down a highway, severely injured, during a rainstorm at night. Apparently taken to a hospital shortly after and treated when kinetic powers first appeared/reappeared? Transferred to a second 'hospital' shortly after and was tested upon. Possibly was transferred to an unknown research facility where she was abused and thus created the fear of hospitals and doctors._  
>  _-Escaped 'hospital' roughly a year after transfer and has been living on the streets since._  
>  _-See further reports of paranormal activity that subject has been involved in._
> 
> _Health Condition as of July, 30, 2013 :_  
>  _Known laceration on upper left arm. Malnourished and underweight. Several bruises; possibly from previous attacks from Frog monsters. Observed insomnia. Subject tends to wake every thirty minutes or so before falling back asleep._

"Hey Abe?" A voice hissed in his ear, causing the amphibian to look up. The chopper was too loud to carry on any decent conversation without the aid of a com unit. Even past the static, he could pick up hints that Hellboy was annoyed about something. The half demon tapped the side of his earphone and held up two fingers, then reached up to switch a nob above his head. Abe nodded and did the same, switching over to a different channel so that the rest of the crew would't hear the conversation. Not without giving themselves away at least. 

"You've been at that thing for a while now and I know you don't type slow." Hellboy pointed out, nodding his head towards the tablet.

"Did you take into consideration that I might be trying to write things down word for word?" Abe shot back, giving his own version on a grin. If an outsider had seen it, they would have thought he was baring his teeth at them. Only a few knew the difference between his grin and an actual smile. Hellboy being one as his closest friend. The two had known each other for what seemed like an eternity and they knew just how to rag on the other. 

"What's this I'm hearing? Are you trying to be funny again?" Hellboy asked straight faced. 

"With great success while you fail at it."

The two held a look for a moment before they started chuckling. The facade argument erased whatever tension that had remained from the day in an instant.

"Seriously though. What are you working on?" Hellboy asked, the com's being somewhat staticy.

"Just trying to keep myself occupied. I thought that while she was asleep, I could build her file." Abe replied with a shrug. He handed the tablet over for Hellboy to review the information he had listed already.

"Plan on attaching all the stuff from the debriefing as well?" Hellboy handed the tablet back after a moment, receiving a nod for an answer.

At his shifting movements, Dannie lifted her head, glancing around with sleep filled eyes. He moved his stone hand enough to lightly push her back into his lap and she drifted off again. She rubbed her head against his leg, settling in against him. Her hand reached up and clasped one of his massive stone fingers, as if to further reassure herself that she was safe. 

"I wonder why she's so comfortable with you now. She looked rather terrified when she first saw us." Abe pondered allowed. 

"Beats me." Hellboy gave a one shoulder shrug so that he wouldn't disturb the girl again. "It was more than just the frogs that's attacked her, right?"

"The troll and the possession case, I'm convinced were bad luck on her part. Wrong place, wrong time. But yes, reports have been made of demonic attacks as well." Abe tilted his head thoughtfully. There was no need to point out the resemblance Hellboy had. 

"She didn't really panic until we mentioned the red coats." Hellboy sighed. The term was one they had agreed on when they needed to talk about doctors. "I'd say she was more worried about them than demons."

"Makes you wonder what all they did to her to make her so afraid." There was a sympathetic note in Abe's voice as he looked back at the girl. More like young woman really. She looked as though she could pass for mid twenties. 

"It doesn't matter. It's in the past now and the only thing we can do is show her that it won't happen again to her. Who better than guys like us and Liz?" 

"Sounds to me like you want to take her in, rather than train her to be your replacement." Abe pointed out, ignoring the scowl that he received. 

"So what? If it turns out that she wants nothing to do with the BPRD, would you blame her?" Hellboy snapped. 

"A lot has changed since you've left. I wouldn't have gone back otherwise." Abe continued in a softer tone, soothing the bristled attitude of his friend. 

"Yeah..." He looked down at Dannie. With great care, he ran his stone thumb over her hand that still clutched tightly at his finger in her sleep. "Still, if she doesn't want to stay there, where's she gunna go? These things obviously have some sort of vendetta against her and until we know what it is, it doesn't sit right with me to just abandon her. She doesn't know how to fight them except with force. I know better than anyone that, that doesn't always work out. " 

"We don't know that for certain."

"Abe, you can't seriously tell me that you're not thinking-"

"Don't get me wrong, Red. I understand where you're coming from. But I do have my doubts about these beings singling her out." Abe argued, shaking his head. A beep sounded in his headphone and instinctively, he looked towards the pilot. The man had his back to the passengers, but held up a single finger. Abe reached up and switched the channel over to the first one again, watching as Hellboy did the same. 

"Hate to brake up the party girls, but we're coming in for a landing." 

"Roger that." Hellboy replied. 

They could feel the weightlessness of flying in the chopper give way to gravity when they landed. The loud roar of the rotors slowed into a gentler whine that could be spoken over easily. The bay door creaked and the hydraulics hissed as the ramp was lowered. The change in constant sounds was all it took to wake the quadkinetic. Dannie shot up, blinking her eyes as if to will away the blurriness of sleep. Hellboy moved his hand away from her to give her a chance to gain her bearings without being disturbed. The girl looked around, one hand in a fist and the other bracing herself upright, determining that she wasn't in immediate danger, she allowed herself to relax again.

"Dannie?" Hellboy asked. The girl turned to him with confusion in her dark eyes. "We're here."

"Oh," She said, taking the edge of the blanket into her hand. 

After a moment she shrugged and pulled the blanket off of her, folding it, and placed it on the bench beside her. When the pilot gave the all clear, Hellboy picked up her duffel bag and started walking, only to have it snatched out of his hand. Somewhat baffled, he glanced over his shoulder to see her pulling the strap over her chest. Catching sight of his scrutiny, she tucked her chin onto her chest, the brim of her hat blocking her face from view. 

"I've just...Learned that it's better to keep your things close to you so you don't lose them." Dannie defended, seemingly shrinking in front of him.

"Hey, you ain't got to explain it to me, kid." Hellboy replied with a nonchalant tone and moseyed down the ramp. 

Abe kept pace with him, tapping away on the tablet and hardly paying attention to where he was going. He had half a mind of letting the amphibian crash into some of the cargo that was being unloaded. Having a heart, and having several over things occupying his mind, he reached out and tugged on Abe's vest and guided him around cargo easily. That was something else the two had learned over the years. To simply trust when the other was tugging on them while they were distracted and just follow. Abe mumbled a thanks and continued working. 

Hellboy's ears pricked up when he heard feet scampering down the ramp. He fought back a grin, realizing it was just Dannie. The girl must not have noticed when the agents had slipped away but now, she made a point of staying close. Almost too close. He stopped short to avoid a passerby and felt the girl bump into his tail.

"Sorry!" She stammered, jumping a step backward when he turned to her. She reminded him of Zoey in that moment. Timid and easily startled. He had never faulted his daughter for those qualities, and he wasn't about to fault this girl either. 

"Dannie, I've got two kids- _both_ of which have clawed, bitten, tripped over, stomped on, and slammed my tail in things. _You_ bumping into me is the least of my problems." He chuckled as her eyes grew wide. "Now com'on. Let's get you cleaned up and settled in before Katie get's ahold of ya."

"Katie?" She asked. The two fell into step together, her practically jogging to keep up to his long strides. She craned her head back to watch him, waiting for an answer.

"Kate Corrigan. Head of field operations and most of the B.P.R.D." Abe pipped up, tucking the tablet under his arm. "She'll be your boss, if you decide to stay with the Bureau."

"Oh." She fell silent, occupying herself with taking in her surroundings. 

The hanger doors were wide open, people scurrying here and there with assigned tasks. Only a few waved and called out Hellboy and Abe's names in greetings. The girl did her best to ignore the stares she got for following so close to them; opting instead to study her surroundings. The hanger was massive. Designed to hold several choppers and small planes. A fuel truck rushed by to fill the depleted tanks of the one that had brought them here. Dannie almost didn’t take notice of Abe breaking off from their small party, promising to accompany her when she was to meet with Kate. Leaving Dannie and Hellboy alone to navigate their way from the hanger to a maze of hallways. 

With every turn that they made, she would knock the side of her fist into the wall. An odd habit that Hellboy was taking an interest in. No visible marks were left that he could see, but it seemed to help keep her calm as they walked. 

“Where are we going?” She asked, breaking the silence and knocking the wall again. 

There were plenty of places he could have taken her, but the faint smell of blood seeping through her bandaged had reached him keen nose. She needed medical attention. Regardless of her opinion of it, she needed it. Even if all he got was some clean bandages and temporary clothing. Even nursing scrubs would be better than the rags she had on currently. 

“To see a friend of mine.” He replied coolly. No need to get her worried over nothing. He wasn’t even planning on taking her inside the medical ward. She knocked another wall as they turned. “Why do you keep doing that? It’s getting annoying.” 

Dannie hesitated for a moment, as if to choose her words before answering him. “I’m counting turns.” 

“So you don’t get lost?” She nodded her answer. 

“Not gunna do you much good to count turns if you don’t know which direction to go.” He grinned at her. The girl paused for a moment to contemplate his statement before her color tinged again. He chuckled and then finally stopped at a split, motioning for her to wait. 

"Just wait here a minute, okay? I'm gunna get a few things and then we'll go back to the dorm rooms and get you cleaned up." Hellboy explained. Dannie peered around him and gasped, flattening herself up against the wall at the sight of the first doctor walking into the med ward. 

"I told you! I didn't want to go to the hospital!" She hissed in a low whisper. Her dark eyes filled with an unspeakable anger towards him, as though he had betrayed her. 

"I didn't say I was taking you in there, now did I?" He shot back, lowering his voice to a deep rumble and bending down to be eye level with her. "I said I had to get a few things. Like soap and clean bandages. If I'm lucky, I might be able to talk one of those doc's into handing over some antibiotics for your arm, without them having to see you." 

"I don't want meds! They make me sleep and wake up with even more cuts!" She retorted. He blinked in surprise at first, then narrowed his golden eyes at her. 

"Dannie, I'm not going to let that happen to you and I _don't like_ you accusing me like I would do that to you." He snapped. The anger didn't fade from her stare, but shame rightfully started to mix in. "Like I told you before. I won't hurt you unless you make me...and I won't let anyone else hurt you either for that matter. Can you trust me on that?" 

Dannie glanced away. “Can you trust me?” 

"I...I want to trust you...I feel like I can, but..." 

"But what?" 

"But I don't trust them." She stressed. 

"That's why I said, wait here." He noted in a softer tone, straightening back up. "I'll be back in a minute." 

He disappeared around the corner and into the medical wing. Shockingly, only one person appeared startled by his appearance, fumbling with their clipboard, and hurrying on their way. He decided to ignore that person for the moment and seek out some form of familiar here. He was in luck. A stout man nearly as tall as he was came charging up to him, the edges of his white coat flailing behind him, and grabbed his flesh hand. A sharp contrast of fiery red against near black skin. 

"I had money on you coming back to the BPRD, but not for another year!" The man's baritone voice was riddled with laughter. 

"Harper, you old bastard. I should have known you would be in on that bet." Hellboy grinned, shaking his hand briefly before letting go. "And I'm not back. Not officially anyways." 

"Oh?" Harper raised a bushy salt-n-pepper brow. Joseph Harper was one of the few people who had stayed with the Bureau for longer than a decade. The man had been there for at forty years and had patched Hellboy up from his more severe injuries since his first day on the job as a doctor. He even helped to deliver the twins when they were born. Harper was someone that Hellboy could trust to help with a terrified young woman like Dannie. "Then what's with the surprise visit? You're not injured are you? You only ever seem to come see me when it's something serious." 

Hellboy shook his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, and no. For once, I'm not the one that's hurt." 

"Liz and the kids okay?" 

"They’re fine. But there's this other kid that I need help with." 

"Kid?" Joseph's eyebrows seem to raise even higher if that was at all possible. 

"Special case, Harper. She's terrified of docs and I have an inkling why." Hellboy huffed, resting his hands on the top edge of his belt. 

"Experimentation, you think?" 

"Only thing I can think of....worse than Abe and Liz even, for her to be this afraid. Hell, I mentioned taking her to the hospital when we picked her up earlier and she launched me across the room. No joke!" 

Harper paused for a moment, looking his oldest patient up and down with an analytical eye. "She launched you? Over taking her to a hospital? That's pretty serious." 

"Tell me about it." Hellboy grumbled. "Anyways. This kid is in pretty rough shape, and I can't get her in here without her flipping out and causing damage. I was hoping-"

"How rough a shape are we talking here?" 

"Laceration on her upper arm." He dragged one stone finger over his left mid-upper arm to show where her injury was at. "Among other things, but that's the worst I can find. Abe and I patched it out in the field, but there's still the chance of infection. I don't know how long it's been laid open." 

"Hm. Is she here?" Harper shrugged out of his white coat and started walking towards the door, handing the garment to a nearby nurse. 

"Yeah, but-Joe! I'm not kidding when I say she'll flip out if she finds out you're a doctor." Hellboy spun and chased after the man, hooves clicking heavily against the tile floor. 

Too late. The door was already thrown open and the man looking up and down the hall way for his unsuspecting patient. It was all Hellboy could do to get ahead of the man before he turned to the corner where, hopefully, Dannie was still waiting for him. He reached out and laid his heavy stone hand gently onto the man's shoulder. It was apparent it would be a losing battle to keep him away. 

"Just don't ask her too many questions okay? She's a huge flight risk and has powers that are unbelievable." Hellboy murmured in a low voice. Harper gave him a curious look and nodded, allowing the red giant to take the lead. Thankfully, Dannie was still leaning against the wall, waiting for him. 

Her dark eyes met his for a second and then looked to see if he was carrying anything. She opened her mouth to speak when Harper eased his way around from behind the hybrid. Almond eyes widened in fear, her tattered sneakers squeaking in protest as she pushed off the wall and backed away from them. 

"Dannie, wait! He's a friend!" Hellboy reached out and grabbed her wrist to keep her from running away. 

"Limmie go!" She shouted, yanking and pulling back as hard as she could. His grip never lessened. 

"Dannie? My name is Joseph, but you can call me Joe if you'd like." Harper raised his hands in a nonthreatening manor, but Dannie was having none of it. The girl clawed at the large red hand that had engulfed her wrist. 

"Dannie, stop it!" Hellboy reprimanded, pulling her closer easily. "He's not going to hurt you! I won't let him-"

"No!" 

"Come on, kid." He continued, carefully taking hold of her other hand in his stone one. He knelt down in front of her as she pulled harder, desperate to get away. A lump formed in his throat when he saw tears starting to glisten in her eyes. If there was one thing he was no good with, it was tears. Even Zoey's tears were too much for him. "I just want him to look at the stitches and make sure they're okay." 

“You said I could trust you!” She yelled. Yanking and pulling with all her strength, desperate to get free. 

“And you can trust me!” 

"We can go someplace private if you don't want to be near the medical ward." Harper offered quietly, kneeling down beside Hellboy. 

Dannie choked back a sob and still fighting against the strong grip that held her. "I don't want to go in there....please don't make me go in there." 

"We don't have to go in there. Why don't we go back to your dorm room and-"

"They haven't issued her a room yet. We just got off the chopper." Hellboy pointed out solemnly. "I was going to take her back to Liz and I's room to get cleaned up." 

"Well why don't we do that? It'll give me a chance to see the twins and Liz as well. Is that okay by you Dannie." Joe titled his gray-haired head to one side and offered a warm smile. 

The smile didn’t deter the girl from attempting to escape. “You _lied_ to me!” 

“I didn’t lie to you! Damn it Dannie! Listen to me.” Hellboy bellowed, his voice echoing down the hallway. “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you and that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you. If I thought he was going to hurt you, he wouldn’t even be here!” 

She screamed, stamping her foot hard into the tile. A sound like gunfire accompanied a rocky pillar jutting up out of the floor and gut punching Hellboy. Caught off guard, he let go of her suddenly, letting her fall to the floor with a thud. She threw her palms up at him and a blast of air tore around him, almost knocking him over. His stone hand came up to block the gust enough to see her having used the air to put more distance between them. She stopped only to get to her feet and take off running back the way they had come. 

“Boy! You weren’t joking about unbelievable powers!” Joseph chuckled, getting to his feet. 

“Yeah well now she’s bolting! Dannie, get back here!” He shouted, getting to his hooves and chasing after her. Harper followed after him, keeping a short distance behind the red giant. The odds of her finding her way out were slim. Her chances of out running him were even slimmer. “Damn it, kid.” 

She was proving him wrong. She made every correct turn. Staying just far enough ahead of him so that he couldn’t reach out and grab her. Dannie didn’t break stride as she felt the left walls at the end of every corridor. Always the left walls. It didn’t matter if she turned to the right or left, she would always touch the left wall. Right where she had knocked them. 

“Kid’s done marked the walls!” Hellboy realized out loud. The realization caused him to slow down enough to look for an intercom. She had been knocking on walls since they had left the hanger and last he had check; those doors were still wide open. 

“Joe! Get a channel open for the hanger now!” He shouted, pointing to an intercom. “Tell them to get those doors shut!” 

The doctor didn’t argue. He just followed instructions while Hellboy continued to chase after her. 

* * *

Dannie ran hard, ignoring the pain in her legs and the wound in her arm. She stretched her hand out to touch the corner mark again. It was a system she had designed years ago after having been lost and trapped. She marked the same corner on every wall. A small divot in the wall that wasn’t visible, but deep enough that could be felt. One divot meant turn left, two for right. Her fingers felt two, and she ducked to the right. It wasn’t far now. Only a one more turn and-

An alarm sounded off. Panic ripped through her. She ran harder, reaching out to the last corner. One divot. She turned left and saw the door leading out to the hanger. The alarm was louder now. Her heart pounded. She could hear Hellboy chasing after her. She didn’t dare look back to see how close he was. She slammed her full weight into the push bar, forcing it open with a loud clang. She spun, swinging her arm as she did so. She felt light headed as the air moved to her command, shutting the door right in Hellboy’s face. A trust of her fist, shifted a wedge of concrete up to block the door from reopening. She felt like she had just thrown a small weight. 

Another ring of the alarm, dragged her attention away from the angry glare the red demon was giving her through the small window. She couldn’t look at him. Guilt ate her when she looked at him. Dannie looked at the hanger doors. Already they were most of the way shut. People were pouring out of every corner and rushing at her. Fear gripped her. 

_God, get me out of this please!_ She thought and started running again. She had to keep the doors from closing. She slowed down enough to spin without tripping, dipping her fist low and swinging towards the door as hard as she could. She could feel the weight of the mountain and the concrete of the whole base. A rumbling answer came as both came rocketing up and filling the gap between the doors. Taller than a human and just wide enough for her to slip through if she could get to it. 

Men watched in amazement while others still, reached for weapons. Dannie looked to the multitude of pipes that lined the hanger. She could feel it the water rushing through some of them. Without hesitating, She reached out to them. The pipes burst behind a line of men, knocking a few down as the water poured out. Dannie flexed her fingers and the water lifted into the air as easily as a bird, defying the laws of gravity and rushing towards her. 

Gun fired but not one shot touched her. The water had formed a thick dome over her, catching all the bullets. Dannie waved her hand and ribbons of water rocketed out from the dome, throwing people and separating them from their weapons. An outsider would have mistaken her for dancing or walking through fighting stances. Each motion though caused three of the elements she could control to move. Tripping, pushing, and drenching anyone who came too close to her. Water. Air. Earth. It was second nature for her to feel and sense the elements around her. Manipulating them as she desired on a whim or with only a few hand motions. 

She started running again. She had fought for her freedom once. She would do it again. She was so close to the hanger doors now. Braced open by the rock wall she created. Dannie leapt into the air, making a burst of wind to aid her in making it to the top of the-

A wall of fire erupted in front of her, blocking her exit. With a yelp, she blasted herself backwards away from the sudden heat and back inside the hanger. She grimaced as she rolled and pained tore through her whole body. Fire. Dannie could control it but she couldn’t make it appear out of nowhere like that. Quickly she got to her feet and looked at the inferno that sat on her rock wall. She growled and reached out to it. Flames stretched out to her, but she couldn’t calm them. Instead they grew! She couldn’t understand it. She tried parting the flames but it was…it was as though it was fighting her. 

“It’s not so easy is it?” A voice called out to her. Dannie turned and her eyes widened with awe. 

Standing beside a very smug looking Hellboy was a woman on fire….and she was talking to her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I would like to apologize for the delay in writing this chapter. There has been a lot going on in my personal life. Some good and some bad. All of which have kept me away from writing. Hopefully, it won't take me so long for my next chapter upload.
> 
> Second, I would like to apologize for the crappy writing in general. I feel like I could have done better in describing Dannie's skills but lacked the words to do such. Please tell me your opinion on this chapter.


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